Technology, Information, and Modern Warfare: Challenges and Prospects in the 21st Century

Abstract

In international law there are two long-recognized conflicts: one between self-determination and non-intervention, and the other between self-defense and non-intervention. In Sect. I, Wayne McCormack examines the first conflict in the context of informational warfare, concluding that supplying information (or misinformation) in a foreign conflict with the objective of altering the course of the conflict is within the acknowledged sovereignty rights of a state and does not violate the non-interference right of the state in conflict. In Sect. II, Deen Chatterjee examines the other conflict—that between self-defense and non-intervention. He claims that the provision of preventive war in self-defense can get unduly interventionist, especially in the context of cyber warfare, making the world less secure. To counter this prospect, Chatterjee suggests that countries should promote prevention in non-interventionist terms by relying on the soft power of diplomacy and collaboration.